Hnetflix

Film | by Shane “The Download Lowdown” Hnetka

Landmark Cinemas is planning an eight-screen multiplex with comfy, reclining chairs in Saskatchewan’s second-biggest city. It’s a little weird Regina would get a cool new movie theatre before Saskatoon, but then again, Regina is famous for its low self-esteem so we’ll allow it. This time.

The Films Of Fandor

Last column, I mentioned a streaming site where you can watch independent films if you’re tired of Netflix’ Hollywood-heavy stuff. Fandor has been around for a few years now and for $10 a month or $90 a year (which works out to $7.50 a month) you get a library of 6,000-plus movies, shorts, and documentaries.

Fandor used to have the Criterion Collection too, but sadly Criterion started its own streaming service.

Still, it has an impressive library.

Say you feel like watching something made in Canada. Fandor has quite a few choices, as well as some NFB shorts. It also has lots of world cinema, a large selection of Werner Herzog films and piles of cult movies.

Fandor also has useful categories including “films directed by women”, which is nice to see, given the industry’s sexism. Each film gets a cast and crew list, a user rating out of five and, if it passes the Bechdel Test, that’s mentioned (though if it doesn’t, it isn’t).

The downside? Not a ton of new content added daily, weekly, etc. Still, it beats watching the cinema of Adam Sandler on Netflix.

Your Daily Mubi

Another streaming site that’s been around for awhile is Mubi. It’s a little different — it’s only got 31 films. Mubi adds one new movie every day and removes one that’s been around for 31 days. It’s essentially a film-a-day service that, for $7.99 a month, prompts you to watch lots of world cinema along with cult films, independents and classics. Sounds like a neat way to develop better movie-watching habits.

Shane Hnetka is a Saskatchewan film and comic book nerd who writes “Sunday Matinee” every weekend at planetsmag.com.